


The Shadow Queen

by Fawnsummer



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alarkling - Freeform, F/M, Fanfiction, Grishaverse, Ruin and Rising, Siege and Storm - Freeform, leigh bardugo, shadow and bone - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23048992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fawnsummer/pseuds/Fawnsummer
Summary: A short Alarkling fic set afterSiege and Stormif things had gone differently. It's quite spoilery if you haven’t read pastShadow and Boneand is an alternative path to what happened in the books.
Relationships: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	The Shadow Queen

**Alina**

_Everything was the same but irrevocably changed_.

My tired gaze flickered from the passing scenery outside the carriage window to my gloved hand intertwined with his. The Darkling’s face was turned downwards at some parchment he was reading, affording me a moment to look without being noticed. I took in the embroidered collar of his kefta below his carefully cut hair; dark as raven’s feathers, to the curve of his cheek; regal and aristocratic yet still touched by youth. He was so _young_ , just a boy burdened with a power he couldn’t begin to understand and I had _touched_ it, felt its dark embrace begin to blacken my heart, threaten to consume me until I forgot myself. Perhaps that’s what happened to him and all he has left is his name; _Aleksander_.

All the times he’d appeared to me in the Little Palace he’d looked a little wane, but I wasn’t prepared for just how different he’d appear in real life. The dark circles around his eyes were like bruises and he was thin, much thinner than I’d ever seen him. I was hurt and furious about what he’d done but I couldn’t stop the niggling feelings that I’d had since the moment we met. I don’t know if what had transpired over the last few days was affecting me, but I could seriously feel my anger and bitter hatred be replaced by something else; pity.

“Alina.” His voice cut through my contemplating, making me jump.  
“Are you alright?” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, his elegant brows knitted together in what looked to me like sincere concern.  
“I’m fine.” I breathed, turning my head towards the window. To my shame, I felt a flush heat my cheeks as his eyes stayed on me, studying me as I watched the grey world outside change from open fields to the city. We were nearly there, back to the Grand Palace.

My hand strays to the amplifier around my neck, the bone firm and unrelenting against my collar bones. The strange thing is that I can’t remember what it was like to _not_ be wearing it. It has begun to feel like it’s always been there, wrapped around my neck, silent in its power but just the mere sight of it spoke volumes to others.

The Darkling catches me fondling it, a habit I’d become accustomed to over the last few months without even realising it. He snorts, a ghost of a smile on his lips as his eyes meet mine. “It suits, you know.”  
“What does?” I reply, immediately feeling stupid. Of course he meant the amplifier.  
“My power.” He says, his slate grey gaze as intense as ever. “Watching you take my darkness as your own was…” He stopped, shaking his head furtively. “It was spectacular.”  
I blush, unable to meet his gaze. Even after what he did, my body still betrays me. Mal’s solemn face floats into my peripheral, squashing any darker thoughts before they bore fruit. 

_How am I going to get through this on my own?_


End file.
